Shelby was entered in Wildcard, two rounds of Standard, Jackpot and Colors. Wildcard went well. It was the first run of the day, so Shelby was a little excited. She ran off course to check out the photographer, but I called her back and we finished without any faults. We got a Q, but no placement because we took so long to finish.
They divided standard into level 1 and level 2, and ran both rounds of level 2, then both rounds of level 1, so we had to wait about 2 hours. That's what I hate about trials-the waiting and waiting around. Anyway, finally it was our turn. Round 1 was a challenge. The course was easy, but Shelby seemed unsure and I really had to work to keep her with me, cheering her on a praising her like crazy. We got it together towards the end, but we ran out of time. Denielle pointed out that I needed to support Shelby more and run much closer to each obstacle and take the course one obstacle at a time. So the next run I did just that and we had a clean run and a 4th place finish. It seemed like I was babying her, but if that's what I needed to do, I would do it. It feels like regressing when we get such great distance in practice, but a trial is more stressful I guess.
Our next run was Jackpot. The jackpot was actually pretty easy. Deneille helped me think about how to run the course in order to get my points and be in good position when the whistle blew for the gamble. We had one bobble. The opening was a jump, then tire, and I intended Shelby to take 2 jumps to the right, but she headed toward the A frame and we almost collided. Shelby went to right past the jumps, so I kept going and called her to the tunnel, then a double jump, a single jump and the teeter. I was mildly worried she would bail from the teeter because sometimes with a strange teeter she gets unsure. But she did great. After that I planned a single jump and into the tunnel. I don't know if the teeter banging or the judge's voice on the microphone but she looked back for a second and missed the jump. But she went right into the tunnel. We still had time, so I send her throught the tunnel again and the gamble whiste blew. I would have thought since we were in the tunnel we would get points for that, but we didn't. The gamble was a jump to the near tunnel entrance, back to the jump then to the table. Shelby did great, but hesitated at the table, and then the whistle blew so we ran out of time. But I was proud of Shelby anyway-she did great.
The last class of the day was Colors, which is simply 2 courses and you have to choose which one you want to do and take it in order. It was late in the day and everyone was hot, so most people were choosing the course with 2 jumps instead of the A frame, but I knew Shelby liked the A frame, so I did that course. I heard people at the judging table say "ooh, she's brave"! Shelby did great, no bobbles, and we finished in 25 seconds. I know we Q'd, but don't know what place we got because after waiting around for over an hour for the score sheets, I just needed to leave.
I think the level 1 and 2 courses were pretty easy, when looking at some other courses I've had. They were all very flowing and you could do them with only 1 or 2 side changes. I almost was over analyzing, looking for traps, like "it can't be this simple."
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